Project Evaluation

I was a bit upset when i found out i had been referred for my final chunk of year 2 as i then began to panic about whether i would progress into the 3rd year! But as i had a second chance to get a pass i really put my all into it, like i should of done in the first place. I really struggled with the 'competition brief' as i couldn't find an idea to stick with and i almost discarded the project until i eventually ran out of time and therefore handed in an undeveloped idea. I have used work as an excuse for my terrible time management and i feel it has really got in the way, throughout July i said to my manager i could only work the maximum of 2 days a week and i feel that my time management has improved a lot. As a result of this i am only going to be working 2 days a week so i can focus my energy on my degree as it will be my future (hopefully).
This project has been the most unsuccessful to date but i feel it has been a real help to my working method and being referred has helped me to realise what work i have been missing and how to continuously develop my ideas into a finish piece. I know i should of already grasped this way before now but this project i feel has finally lead me down the right path just in time for the most important year!
The things i have done differently this time are: using mind maps to show all my thoughts as last time i didn't note everything down i kept most of it to myself; putting my ideas down into storyboards to make it easier for me to visually see how i need to film/animate; developing my storyboards instead of just filming i have made creative decisions on what i want to change, add or discard of; using animatics as a starting point to my final piece i have found it easier to add into my animatic the final clips of animation so that the correct speed and clips are how i planned them.
Another thing i found very helpful was after i had a rough idea of what i wanted to achieve i went straight out to test and gain some primary research and this is how my final idea developed, instead of being sat in front of a computer i just got on with it and it was easy especially as it was nice weather! I found my tests to be very successful so it was a fantastic starting point as to what i wanted the final piece to look like. After i had some tests i added them together to make short sequences to get a feel of the speed and overall feel/flow of the animation. So when i found what i liked i then started to draw up some storyboards and play with them and as they developed i used photos of the scenes instead of just drawings and drew on where Sonic would go past the camera. This technique was so useful as i could see where i had placed shots next to each other that may look a bit repetitive so i will be using this technique in future to help my project development.
When the storyboards were almost complete i then began to create hand drawn animatics to start to get the speed of the separate clips right and make sure they fit together nicely, since this was developing i then started to use the same photo technique as in the storyboards to give me a clearer idea of what the shot will actually look like. As i got nearer to finishing the animatic i added in clips of my final piece to make sure the timing matched until the whole animatic was the final animation. I felt this method worked well as i was sticking to exactly what i had planned and not just winging it like in some of my previous projects so this is defiantly the way i work the best (and the way it should be done).
The final animation i think has worked well and it is exactly what i pictured, however if i was to do it again i may have picked more locations but i wanted to see how many i could find in one place which i think i managed to do well. I think i have used my time well as i have focus all my energy into it and haven't been distracted, i have to say that the working method i have used within this referred project has been successful and i have stuck to my set time limit. Which i decided on when i gave myself boundaries for the brief. I think this time around the use of my own set boundaries was a great idea because i need some strict guidelines to stop me from losing focus, i planned to start the piece at the beginning of July and have it completed and handed in the first week of August which i have done successfully so in the future i need to set myself guidelines within an open brief as i believe this i how i work the best.